Whedonesque : Comments on 19517 : Sofadogs return to Minear.

The first podcast was great. Stupid day with too few hours in it.

Damn these podcasts are always so long. Might listen when I have some time. Does he say something about Miracle Man? I really want to see Tim do another show. He's my favorite of all the Whedon writers.

Pretty_Hate_Machine | March 17, 13:49 CET

Mature language ? Like "varmint" or "get off my lawn, you young whippersnappers" ?

Haven't had a chance to listen to the first one yet but this one I can do on the way home (cos it doesn't need the episode in front of me). I would consider minor violence if it meant getting one of these from the writer(s) of each episode. E.g. a very hard pinch or maybe a chinese burn. Just point me in the right direction, i'm like a coiled spring.

Saje | March 17, 14:14 CET

Loved it! I listened to it while working.. hehe.. (I actually had to stop working so I could really listen to the podcast) I closed the door to my office and took a whedonesque-break :)

[ edited by angry_puppy on 2009-03-17 14:19 ]

angry_puppy | March 17, 14:17 CET

Thanks to everyone for the outpouring of immense positive feedback! Time and scheduling permitting, there will be more!
@Pretty_Hate_Machine: He does briefly mention Miracle Man, referring to it as, "my failed ABC show". Also, there's no rule that says you must listen to it all in one go. If you think it's long now, you should've heard the almost two hour-long original run. :)

kungfubear | March 17, 15:00 CET

Could we ? ;)

Saje | March 17, 15:03 CET

I'm afraid the only people who will ever hear it are Tim and myself (as per Tim's request). We got really silly and random for a stretch, and the man deserves to keep his dignity, so it had to be trimmed. :)

kungfubear | March 17, 15:06 CET

I closed the door to my office and took a whedonesque-break :)

Heh, wish I could do that. But working in a newsroom, my collegues would probably start wondering why I wasn't interviewing anyone for new newspaper articles and/or typing said articles ;).

I'm afraid the only people who will ever hear it are Tim and myself (as per Tim's request). We got really silly and random for a stretch, and the man deserves to keep his dignity, so it had to be trimmed. :)

Okay, not helping in the "still wanting to hear it" department, there kungfubear ;).

GVH | March 17, 15:09 CET

We got really silly and random for a stretch, and the man deserves to keep his dignity, so it had to be trimmed. :)

Damn your integrity kungfubear, dammit all to hell !

;-)

Saje | March 17, 15:26 CET

[unhelpful ad hominems cut]

I think I'm not made for fan culture. Damn it.

One unfortunate thing about 'grassroots media' is that thinking up interesting questions and entertainingly, clearly articulating these questions with 'words' are two different, almost orthogonal skills. Kudos for sticking with it, kungfubear, but I guess I'm just outside the target audience here.

That said:

The idea of Minear on Lie to Me prompts me to involuntary eye-rolling. Poor bastard. But as he says, the development deal is his choice.

Minear really is startling bitter and angry, isn't he. Not that doesn't have reason to be; oh lord he sure does. But Whedon's anger comes out as teacherly resignation, and Minear's comes out as a slightly younger (and markedly more somewhat-justifiably arrogant) man's suppressed disgust. I enjoy listening to him but spend a bunch of the time cringing. Which is good - and appropriate, sure, for a Dollhouse discussion.

The commentary was definitely valuable in the end!

[ edited by waxbanks on 2009-03-17 15:36 ]

[ edited by waxbanks on 2009-03-17 15:37 ]

[ edited by waxbanks on 2009-03-17 15:49 ]

waxbanks | March 17, 15:35 CET

...Huh. Um...thanks, I think? Perhaps I should borrow some of that Rhino skin Tim was talking about. Oh well. I tried my best my first time out. Maybe I'll get better at the "interviews" with practice. Shrug.

kungfubear | March 17, 16:29 CET

Thanks for the podcast . It was really interensting for me to hear some of the stuff. I missed the original one but i plan to catch up

one.impulse | March 17, 16:36 CET

Minear really is startling bitter and angry, isn't he.

Joss has said that he initially wasn't going to hire Tim because he seemed so angry. Then (according to the story) he changed his mind when he found out that many people working on the X-Files at the time were similarly angry.

Don't know how much of that is truth and how much is joke, though.

Jobo | March 17, 16:52 CET

Thanks, kungfubear. It's probably awesome to get to talk to him like that :) I will listen to it when I find the time. And thinks for the obvious hint of listening to it in pieces, it's stupid I didn't think of that myself! I didn't even know Miracle Man was dead.

Pretty_Hate_Machine | March 17, 17:27 CET

That was beans of awesome, kungfubear! Strong is your pod-fu.

Pointy | March 17, 18:04 CET

I think Tim sounds angrier than he really is. When I interviewed him at the WGA strike my first impression was he was angry. Then I think I realized it was more he was intense. Compare him to David Fury or Joss who crack jokes every five seconds, he seems like an angry person.

BrownCoat_Tabz | March 17, 18:05 CET

Tim's not bitter and angry, he's just snarky. And dark. Very, very dark (love it).

electricspacegirl | March 17, 18:34 CET

I don't think he comes across as angry. The part where he describes how he named an evil Angel character after an internet commentator is pretty hilarious.

Sunfire | March 17, 19:59 CET

I think he's one of the most talented individuals to work in the American television industry in the last thirty years. And also a perfect gentleman as well.

Now if The Inside would just come out on DVD, I would be a happy Tim fan indeed.

Simon | March 17, 20:00 CET

Just listened to the second podcast...I think I'm with electricspacegirl...I didn't get a vibe of anger off of any of the conversation. Even discussing his own experiences with cancelled series, I maybe came away with wry or bemused or even resigned, but just didn't get the anger hit even slightly.

doubtful guest | March 17, 20:13 CET

gosh, I apologize if I came off angry and bitter. Twisted, sure. I certainly don't feel angry or bitter. I feel lucky and grateful. I never take cancelation personally and always feel wicked lucky to make a new thing. Sometimes I even feel like I'm in a way more lucky to be able to try multiple things rather than labor on the same thing for years and years, which is what happens when you don't, well, fail as much as I do.

I had fun with John and think he did a great job and would do it again anytime! And John, thanks for editing out the fart noises and Judge Judy sound boards. I do have my dignity to try and maintain!

Tim Minear | March 17, 20:33 CET

Welcome to Whedonesque :).

Simon | March 17, 20:33 CET

that being said, I am well known in most circles as having a kind of cranky stichk.

Tim Minear | March 17, 20:37 CET

Many of us here are.

The One True b!X | March 17, 20:37 CET

Pfft. Everyone here is delightful and as adorable as puppies.

NYPinTA | March 17, 20:40 CET

Except me.

Caroline | March 17, 20:42 CET

Hey, wouldja look at that! Welcome to Whedonesque, Tim!

lexigeek | March 17, 20:44 CET

I wouldn't post here if you were all delightful. Where's the fun in that?

Also I think Tim Minear is just very wry in his delivery. I have a similar problem in conversation sometimes.

Sunfire | March 17, 20:45 CET

Except Caroline ;). What? She said it! I knew we'd sucker you in eventually, Tim!

zeitgeist | March 17, 20:45 CET

Didn't really get "angry" as much as cynical, and ghod knows he should be. (Then again I'm only 3/4 of the way through this one so far, so if there's any memorable blowups coming don't tell me.)

Was also fascinated by the new 6-act writing style for hour-long shows, and would love to hear more about how writers have (or haven't) adapted to it. How has it changed your writing style and pacing?

[ edited by C. A. Bridges on 2009-03-17 21:11 ]

C. A. Bridges | March 17, 20:54 CET

Nice to see you here sir!

Lioness | March 17, 20:55 CET

I knew we'd sucker you in eventually, Tim!

S'cos we're irresistible. Well, we're semi-irresistible. We're stible.

And welcome Mr Tim Minear esq. but respectfully, I don't like 'fail' to describe cracking shows like 'The Inside', I prefer 'differently succeed' ;).

Saje | March 17, 21:01 CET

Here, here, Saje! And I prefer to think of all of our occasional bouts of crankiness as "differently adorable!"

doubtful guest | March 17, 21:30 CET

"differently adorable!"

I hope someone is wearing this as a t-shirt at Comic-Con.

The One True b!X | March 17, 21:32 CET

If you're going to Comic-con and have the capacity to form a 'T' using only your body I think I may know a way your hopes could come true.

Saje | March 17, 21:36 CET

Does this man look cranky to you? Honestly, to me... sheer joy and exuberance appear to be flooding out from his every pore. ; >

(Welcome to Whedonesque, Timsir. We can obviously be a big pain in the ass, but that's part of our ineffable and differently-adorkable charm, which I'm sure you can relate to.)

QuoterGal | March 17, 21:40 CET

"We can obviously be a big pain in the ass..."

To quote one above: Except me. I am delightful and as adorable as a puppy and my screen name is totally ironic.

Honestly though, I can't wait to get home so I can hear this podcast.

NYPinTA | March 17, 21:51 CET

Tim MInear! Fabulosity!

buffyfest | March 17, 22:02 CET

I've been posting online in forums with Tim for about 12 years now - way back to the usenet days.

I've learnt three things during this time:

- He's an incredibly accessible and nice man.
- He's really talented, which is why I'm happy to call myself a huge fan. And no, that wasn't a fat joke.
- Joss taught me how to pronounce Tim's surname four years ago. Because, yes, I kept saying Minear wrong to Joss. It was quite embarrassing that I didn't know how to pronounce the guys name.

[ edited by gossi on 2009-03-17 22:11 ]

gossi | March 17, 22:10 CET

That's okay, we keep pronouncing "gossi" as "gassy".

The One True b!X | March 17, 22:17 CET

Mean and hilarious often go hand in hand.

gossi | March 17, 22:32 CET

Welcome, Tim, enjoy your empurplement!

Pointy | March 17, 22:38 CET

Welcome to Whedonesque, Tim sir!

*runs off to make "differently adorable!" t-shirt*

korkster | March 17, 22:48 CET

Looking forward to listening to this podcast. The first one was excellent!

And welcome Tim!

the Groosalugg | March 17, 23:14 CET

You guys could do a commentary for The Prodigal, I really like that episode. Through the Looking Glass would be great too. Can't wait for episode 12 of Dollhouse, it sounds amazing. And for whatever it's worth, I think True Believer is one great episode, I'm sure it got a lot more people hooked on the show. I tried to download Drive a while back but it's not available outside the US.

danielgm | March 18, 04:50 CET

I poisoned his beagles last weekend, and he wasn't bitter or angry about it. And there was vomiting involved (um, they're totally okay now).

He's actually ridiculously cheerful, he just has a wicked sense of humor. And yeah, his stuff gets canceled, but he always gets back up on the horse to try again, which points to his hopefulness and tenacity. He's genuinely a pretty positive guy. But also wicked. Which is kind of tasty!

After Firefly got canceled, he stepped up to Wonderfalls, Drive, The Inside, K-Ville, and now this. And he never half-asses anything.

Tim reminds me to always be grateful for the opportunities that come my way, and he talks a lot about gratitude, how important it is. After every cancellation, he still talks about being grateful for having been able to produce the work, and even more grateful for work that makes it to air. It's a rare thing in this business, and he gets that.

I am now done embarrassing Tim for the evening and am going to bed.

Allyson | March 18, 06:15 CET

Welcome to the fold, Tim! "Gooble-Gobble, Gooble-Gobble! One of us, one of us!" :)

kungfubear | March 18, 07:06 CET

March 17 2009